Enigma
by Set Your Heart Free
Summary: Legend of Twilight. Beyond the Chaos Gates of the world's most popular RPG, The World, lies a monstrous program powerful enough to destroy everything. Poor Reki must juggle his newfound feelings for Magi and try to maintain his job after a deadly mistake.
1. One Crazy Intro

Beyond the Chaos Gates of the world's most popular RPG, The World, there lies a monstrous program powerful enough to wipe out all the players and send them all to the hospital. Once a year, somebody from the System Administrator Team must go to the 'basement' of The World and make sure that the program is safely sealed away.

The Debugging Team has tried to delete the program, but so far, it has proved to be undeletable. No on in The World has had the power to delete it. Yet.

Because the 'basement' is used only once a year and is not open to the public, the graphics are very bad, and occasionally a few harmless viruses hide out there. Sometimes wandering AIs pass through, as it is connected to the Net Slums, although no one really knows how or where. The Cobalt Knights don't really want to waste their time in a basement where the viruses don't harm anyone, so they just didn't bother.

Up until now, no one from the generation has witnessed the 'Forbidden Program' in action, which was a relief. They have only heard tales from the older players.

It is said that only the creators of The World know the program's purpose, weaknesses, and how do delete it, if possible.

Yet, the previous generations were able to weaken the program momentarily to seal it away. Although the previous players are not revealing their secrets because they are long gone, many scientists are trying to find a way by testing on a weaker version of the program.

Many often wonder what the program is capable of, and many wandering minds want to use it for evil…

_(Little kid voice): What does that even mean? Anyways, let me tell you about the REAL story. This story is about a guy who 'made' a big mistake, and the program was released. It screwed with The World's programming, and many features were broken. Also, random warp holes started appearing everywhere. _

_Anyways, the guy just wants peace, but now he will forever be annoyed at by his boss at Cyber Connect Corporation. He also wants some good luck in his love life._

_He struggles to beat the program which has taken over his life. Fighting to save all he has, he also meets some strange people along the way, such as a mysterious girl who can predict the future._

_And will he find love with the lovely assistant of the head of the Cobalt Knights? _

_And, in the end, everyone realizes-_

**(Brick hits him in the head)**

You're giving away too much!

_Oh, sorry. Anyways, enjoy! _

**(Someone whispers)**

_Oh, and one more thing. I-_

WE

_WE forgot to tell ya that since this is AU, or alternate universe, and is technically the writer's world, a few changes have been made. _

_First: Magi the player character is now female because it just makes things less…confusing. _

_Second: The World was created a couple decades ago but the characters from .hack/Legend of the Twilight are still the same ages. You could probably tell that from the weird intro this guy said earlier._

Hey!

_Third: Hotaru is a girl in The World and in real life._

Technically this should be true anyway because the anime is non-canon and the manga is canon... In the anime she is a foreign boy, but in the manga she is a foreign girl._  
_

_Ya ya. And the writer says that she doesn't know much about .hack so if she makes a mistake, don't blame her-er us-er whoever. Also, she said that there may be elements of a crackfic, so there will be people falling down stairs, people falling in rivers, and people getting whacked by sports equipment. Sounds like a fun story! _

Enjoy!

_Hey, that's my line!_

You're taking too long.

_You're intro was too long!_

**(They get in a fight.)**

Start the story already!

* * *

It was a typical day at the administration headquarters of Cyber Connect Corporation.

As usual, Balmung was complaining of all the paperwork he had and shoved it all to his assistant Reki.

Reki groaned as his mountain of work grew and grew.

In the real world, Fujio Satoshi tore up papers in frustration. "Why did I have to take this job?"

Back in The World, all the admins received an email.

_It's that time of year again. Choose who will go and check on the program. _

Fujio slumped in his chair. _Already?_

Every year, they drew straws. A few years ago, Balmung drew the shortest one and threw a fit. The other admins didn't want to deal with him so they made his assistant go instead.

A box of straws appeared in front of the group and everyone began picking nervously. Nobody thought the job was interesting and they all thought it was a waste of time. If the program got out, you would be blamed.

"Don't expect me to cover for you again." Reki whispered to his boss. "In fact, you should be the one covering for me this time."

Reki reached out to take a straw. It was the short one. He looked around for Balmung, but as soon as the Blademaster saw he hadn't chosen the short one, he disappeared into the crowd, hoping that Reki wouldn't find him.

Reki sighed and gated to the basement. The program was sealed in a strange room with a lock that was nearly impossible to break into. The key was destroyed long ago, but the lock was getting old.

Reki tested the lock and sighed with relief when it held. He sent a letter of confirmation back to headquarters. As he turned to leave, he heard a strange sound. He whirled around and saw that the lock was in flames. _How on earth did that happen?_

The lock melted. Reki ducked as the door swung open and the evil power rushed out.

Reki followed it. The program warped into a thin vapour and transported itself to the main server. Twin Blade Shugo and his party gated into Mac Anu when a sudden gust of wind blew. A sign snapped.

They turned and saw Balmung's assistant Reki gate in and look around. He saw the snapped sign and ran towards an evil, invisible force.

"Hello!" Mireille cried out.

Reki turned to answer but lost his footing and fell into the Mac Anu River. The program disappeared inside one of the shops where it then embedded itself to the world's programming. No one would ever know it was there.

Minutes later, as he climbed out of the river, he was greeted by the gruff voice of one of the Cobalt Knights.

"Hey, you! Stop right there!"


	2. Mystery and Mystique

"Hey, you! Stop right there!" The Cobalt Knight shouted.

_Uh oh…_ Reki quickly thought of an excuse, but it seems he didn't need to.

"Shugo Kunisaki, were you and your party responsible for setting the program free?" The Cobalt Knight asked.

"Huh?" Shugo was confused.

"Program?" Ouka asked.

Hotaru seemed to stare off into space… or she was staring at Reki with a faraway look, but no one seemed to notice.

"We know that your bracelet has the power to hack Chaos Gates. Reki here just sent us a letter of confirmation that the lock was fine. Yet moments later, you gate into Mac Anu and the program appears with you. Reki has also followed. Why is that?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Why is Balmung's little flunky following us anyway? How do you know _he_ isn't the one who set it free?" Mireille asked.

"I have a name, you know!" Reki snapped.

"I trust Reki. He would not give us false information. Now, we have no proof that you were the ones who did this, so we're going to leave you alone for now. But, we will be keeping a sharp eye on you." The Cobalt Knight turned and walked off to patrol the streets.

Reki shuffled nervously. The Cobalt Knight turned and stared at him. "Something the matter?"

"Uhh no! No, sir. Carry on." Reki answered nervously. _What have I done now?_

Shugo and his party left, but for some reason, Hotaru kept looking back at Reki, until Rena pulled her ahead and asked her how her life was.

Reki wondered how he was going to get out of this mess when a voice shouted, "Hey mister! Watch out!"

A rock hit him in the head. He stumbled and fell into the river again. Apparently, a group of very STRONG little kids were playing catch with a rock.

"Ugh…" Fujio Satoshi groaned. _Mental note: Stay away from the river._

When Reki climbed out, he heard a mysterious voice.

"You will face many hardships to come."

Reki looked around, but he only saw a fortune teller shop. "Balmung-san, is that you?"

"No." the fortune teller answered. "My name is Mystique."

"Are you an NPC?"

"No. I am a PC, just like you."

"Regular PCs like you are not allowed to open shops."

She gated out without another word. _That was weird. Well, she is right about the hardships. I'm going to be in big trouble if someone finds out. How did that spark start anyway?_

An email marked 'Urgent!' appeared above his head:

_Reki, please report to the System Administration Team headquarters immediately._

* * *

"Reki! There you are! I need you to finish this report for me!" Balmung greeted him.

"Ya mean DO the project for you?"

"I, along with some other administrators, have been chosen to scan the system for the program. The rest of the team- including you- must stay here and make sure everything runs smoothly. Can you handle that?"

"Of course, Balmung-san."

"Good, I'll be going now. I expect that report finished by the end of this week." Balmung placed the report on Reki's work pile, which was almost twice as tall as the poor Wavemaster.

Reki sighed and decided to get to work.

"Kamui-san, are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Yes, I'll be fine, Magi. I'm counting on you to keep things in order. Farewell."

"Ma'am."

Kamui, leader of the Cobalt Knights, gated out, along with some of her fellow knights.

Reki groaned and rested his head against the desk.

Magi walked over and sat in the desk next to his. "Are you alright?"

"No… hey, can you help me with this?" he motioned towards the work pile.

"Sorry, I have my own work to do." She pointed to a pile as big as his.

"When did Kamui start doing that?"

"It's just for this time, while she goes and searches for… the program."

"Well, lucky you. I have to do all this work all the time. I have to put up with Balmung-san."

Magi smiled.

"Hey, do you know if there is a type of PC that can run shops? I met one today." Reki asked her.

"A PC? I don't think so; what was their name? Maybe they have some special power."

"All she told me was that her name was Mystique. She had a fortune teller type shop."

"Mystique the Fortune Teller. Huh." Magi flipped through the PC book to see if there was anyone. "What class?"

"Wavemaster."

She flipped more, and when she got to the end, she went back and double checked it.

"What's wrong?" Reki asked her.

"That's funny… there is no Mystique Wavemaster. Oh, well, she probably didn't give you her real name. Hey, I just remembered! There's this new program; you can figure out who is who by inputting their appearance." She quickly set up the program.

"She was a Wavemaster; her avatar is similar to… BT's; she didn't have a staff with her, but she probably hid it."

Magi and Reki scrolled through the pictures and descriptions, but no one matched perfectly.

"Wait a minute… was this before or after the program got out?"

"After. Why?"

"Maybe she's a virus from the program."

"In that case, you should send out an alert to the Cobalt Knights and tell them to keep an eye out for her."

"That's a good idea. Thanks. You know, we should probably get back to work now, since our piles aren't getting smaller."

"Uhh... right."

Edit: The first two chapters have been slightly altered, taking the Hotaru side plot out of it entirely. Althought Hotaru x Reki is pretty cute, I can't seem to pull off a love triangle in this one. Maybe next time.


	3. Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Aha I'm baack~~

Finally...

Well... I sorta changed the first few chapters to get rid of the Hotaru bit... see end note of last chapter. Enjoy =]

* * *

Since Balmung and Kamui were both assigned to go out in the field, they began… 'planning'. They often whispered and winked during work, especially at headquarters. Reki and Magi noticed this and thought it really strange, since the two usually couldn't stand each other.

"Balmung-san, why are you always whispering to Kamui?"

"Whatever do you mean, Reki? Oh, that report is due in twenty-four hours!"

"Ah!"

"Kamui-san, why are you winking at Balmung?"

"I'm not winking at Balmung… whatever do you mean?" Kamui winked at Balmung. "Oh Magi, could you get me that file?" Kamui pointed to a filing cabinet that Reki was flipping through. (A/N: I know there's no filing cabinets in that headquarters place, screwit :P)

"Uh yes ma'am!"

Magi walked over to Reki.

"What's with those two?" Reki asked.

Magi just shrugged and hurried back with the file.

Kamui and Balmung looked at each other with a 'mission accomplished' expression.

In the real world, winter was approaching, and that meant it was almost time for Christmas and New Year's. That gave Balmung and Saki Shibayama the perfect opportunity to plan.

That is… planning on how to play matchmaker between Fujio Satoshi and Asako Saitou!

One cold winter afternoon, Balmung and Kamui told everyone to go home early. Odd looks were thrown their way, but soon the Cyber Connect Corporation building was empty.

"Just be bright and early tomorrow morning!" Balmung shouted cheerfully.

"Ehehe… of course…" Reki had never seen the Descendant of Fianna so cheerful. Sure, he was always so carefree and playful, but never happy and cheerful like this.

Not paying attention as he walked through the root town Mac Anu, Reki walked into 'Miss Collision'. She was extremely mad that so many people had walked into her that day that instead of giving her signature slap, she punched Reki and he fell into the river with a splash.

* * *

The next morning, as Fujio Satoshi slipped his keycard into the slot, he did a double take.

CC Corp had been transformed into a winter wonderland! Garlands and holly hung from every hallway and mistletoe was secretly tucked along the ceiling.

Fujio turned around and looked at the building's logo, double checking to make sure that he hadn't walked into the wrong office building.

"Good morning, Reki!" A cheerful Balmung popped out from nowhere. "Like the décor?"

"Balmung-san, what's with all this? You've never done this before!"

"Well that's because this year I felt like doing something different. Something more… festive."

"Okay then…" Fujio hastily retreated to the shelter of his office, logging in to The World.

As Reki gated in, he noticed that CC Corp wasn't the only place to undergo a makeover.

Everywhere, players were marveling at the glittering white snow. Some threw snowballs at each other, while others built snowmen.

_Hmm… I probably missed the weather forecast._ Reki thought to himself.

"Heads up, mister!" A voice made Reki jump. He turned around to see the same kids who were playing catch with a rock throw a snowball at his face.

He stumbled backwards, grateful that he was nowhere near the Mac Anu River.

Wiping the snow from his face, he was about to protest, but the kids were gone.

Reki sighed and gated to CC Corp headquarters to begin his day's work.


	4. Embarassing Encounter

Fujio stuck his head out his office door, making sure the crazy Descendant of Fianna wasn't around. The coast clear, he stepped out to the vending machine to buy his lunch.

Bad idea. He spotted his boss trying to decide whether to buy the green pea package or the carrot package. "You'd think that such a rich company would have better lunch choices…" he muttered to himself.

"Maybe you should report that to the higher ups then." Fujio said sarcastically as he approached him.

"Gah! Oh it's you, Reki." Balmung jumped. A thought of realization crossed his face.

"What's wrong?" Fujio asked.

"Um… well… I just remembered… when I was decorating… eheh… this happens to be one of the spots… I need to practice my timing… maybe I'll just skip lunch next time…"

Fujio, not understanding a word of his boss's blabbering, just ignored him and stepped up to the vending machine to make his choice.

"Oh my…" a sly voice chuckled. Balmung turned seven shades of red when he noticed Saki Shibayama standing there, watching.

Fujio's lunch became caught in the vending machine. He punched the machine, but only succeeded in injuring his hand. "Oww…"

By the time Fujio recovered, Balmung had disappeared, and Shibayama looked like she was going to explode with laughter. She took a step towards Fujio, then changed her mind and stepped back.

"What's so funny?" Fujio demanded, cringing in pain.

Shibayama snickered, pointed to the ceiling, and walked away.

Fujio looked up. Horrified, he ran back to his shelter, so very glad that Balmung had done the same. _Those evil plants… those evil administrators! _he thought. _Wait… Balmung said it was one of 'the spots'… does that mean he set that up? But he obviously wasn't planning to get caught in his own trap… maybe with Shibayama, but definitely not me! And what did Shibayama… Gah!_

The growling of his stomach brought him back to reality. He snuck out of his office in search of another vending machine.

He kept his sight on the ceiling the entire time, to ensure he didn't have any more… strange encounters.

Of course, that was a bad idea. 'Keep your eyes on the road', is what they always say. Well, it's true. Fujio, on the lookout for more evil mistletoe and not keeping his eyes on the road, fell down the stairs. Two flights. All the way to the lower floor. Ouch.

* * *

"It's not funny." Balmung sat fuming in his office, furious that he had put himself in such a situation, and even more furious that Shibayama had to see.

"Yes it is!" Shibayama exploded with laughter.

Balmung just pouted.

"Lousy timing eh?" Shibayama recovered from her laughing fit.

"It couldn't have been worse. Where was she?"

"Mm… it seems she had to run some sort of errand… she went off to archives."

"Archives? You mean the master index of characters in The World?"

"Yeah. I expect she's still in her office… maybe you can get your lackey to get her lunch."

"Hmm… that's not a bad idea… but we seem to be having some sort of trouble with the vending machines. Three of them have gotten stuck already… I didn't even get lunch." Balmung pouted again.

"Oh stop whining. If we succeed, I'll buy you lunch for a month. And from a real restaurant too. Plus, I think Magi wants some real food instead of what we have here…"

"Really? It's a deal then!" Balmung's mood instantly changed as he flashed a grin.

"Shibayama-san…?" A small voice floated into the office.

"There she is." Shibayama said. She looked at Balmung. Balmung got the signal and went off in search of lunch… and Fujio, of course.

"Hello, Asako. Did you find what you were looking for?" Shibayama calmly stepped out of Balmung's office.

"No I didn't…" Asako Saitou seemed preoccupied.

"Hmm… well let me know if you need anything."

"Alright. Thank you, Shibayama-san." Asako walked off absentmindedly.

_That girl has a lot of things on her mind… she even forgot what she came to find me for…_ Shibayama walked off, trying to come up with another plan.


	5. The Game Begins

A/N: It's been a while... but I'm back!

* * *

When Shugo Kunisaki logged into The World the next day, he was very surprised to receive an email from a system administrator.

_You have been chosen to take part in a trial version of a new feature. Please go to the specified location._

_Strange,_ he thought. _I didn't think they chose regular users to beta. _

Shugo gated into the area with a grin on his face. _I must be pretty special for the admins to want me!_

"Shugo!" he heard his sister shout. She waved him over. "I'm so excited! I wonder what we'll be doing?"

"I hope we get rare items!" Mireille chimed in.

"I'll bet they're releasing powerful new monsters!" Ouka smirked.

Hotaru was about to add her own rumination when the group was interrupted by the gating in of a very flustered Reki.

"Did you call us here?" Mireille asked.

"Yes…" he huffed, annoyed. "Balmung-san or someone _else_ was supposed to give you instructions, but they made me do it at the last minute." He paused to stare around, irritated.

"Are you gonna tell us what we're doing?" Shugo inquired.

"Ah, yes, right. CC Corp has had some… problems recently and are short on staff. Therefore we don't have any betas available for the testing of a new feature we've developed. Balmung-san had previously suggested that we incorporate some kind of sport or real-world activity into the game… despite remarks about how The World is supposed to be a surreal place not resembling the real world, the higher-ups approved of the concept. What our programmers managed to create so far are fields for soccer and golf, and courts for tennis. If all goes well and the features are a hit, we may add in other activities. We've requested that your party test out the features as… we trust you. Especially after that incident…" Reki opened his tome and various sports equipment appeared around the group. "Please report any bugs to us as soon as possible… and we would appreciate overall feedback at the end. Thank you for your cooperation." He twitched at the last line, and gated out.

"Ooh! Items that don't exist in the game yet, how rare!" Mireille crowed as she ran to admire the various rackets and clubs.

"This seems interesting. Shugo, I challenge you to a one-on-one match!" Ouka cried, grabbing Shugo by the arm.

Rena sighed at the three while Hotaru happily looked on the action that was occurring, her Grunty dozing on her head.

Somewhere at the far side of the area, a rip – a warp hole to another part of The World – appeared in the graphic appeared for a split second.

* * *

"Reki, could you type up this report for me?" Balmung grinned as his assistant entered the system administration headquarters.

The Wavemaster sighed. "Yes, Balmung-san." He shook his head at his boss as the Blademaster gated out to… goof off. _Great. Why does everyone seem to pile on more and more work for me? I should be paid overtime for this!_

Behind him, a warp hole appeared. It disappeared in less than a thousandth of a second. Reki turned to look at it, spotting nothing.

* * *

"C'mon Shugo, is that the best you've got?" Ouka laughed. Shugo lay face down on the ground in front of her. "Urgh…" he groaned as he stood up, wobbling, his face imprinted with the pattern similar to that of a soccer ball. One of his front teeth became dislocated and fell into the dirt, turning gray and disappearing. "I can't believe I have to use a healing potion for soccer!"

Mireille and Hotaru were playing Rena in a game of tennis. Rena was surprisingly good at it. She served an ace and watched it sail right by Hotaru and bounce out of the court. Hotaru blinked, not knowing what happened. Rena then served again, this time to Mireille. Mireille excitedly ran up to the ball and prepared to hit it. A ripping sound was heard and Hotaru turned to see her teammate stare bewilderedly at her now broken tennis racket.

"Aw, darn! And I was gonna hit that back!" Mireille pouted.

"Oh well. Guess we'll have to send an error report…" Rena sighed.

* * *

Saki Shibayama lit a cigarette just as a knock was heard at her door. "Hmm… this wouldn't work either…" she muttered to herself.

The door swung open. "Did I say you could enter?" she snapped.

"That doesn't matter. You wouldn't have let me in anyway, so I just invited myself in. Sometimes I forget to not knock when it comes to your door." Balmung winked.

Shibayama sighed.

"You know smoking is not permitted in this building."

"Be quiet."

Balmung chuckled. "Any luck?"

She was suddenly serious. "No. It's strange; the higher-ups have scanned the entirety of The World, and the program has not been found. However, we know it's out there."

"Hm. I don't think it's caused any problems yet…"

"No, but when it does it might be too late."

"That's true. I'll keep looking from within."

Shibayama laughed. "The Descendant of Fianna… you will protect this world at all costs, even if it means your life."

A gentle knock interrupted their talk. "Who is it?" asked the leader of the Cobalt Knights.

"I-it's me, Shibayama-san. I brought you some coffee."

"Ah, thank you Asako. Just leave it on the table there. I hope the reports are going well?"

"Yes they are, ma'am. I've almost finished them. Is there anything else that needs to be taken care of?"

"Not at the moment. Please rest up, we may need more manpower once we have more information on that virus."

"Yes, ma'am. S-sorry for interrupting," Asako bowed and left.

Balmung watched the girl leave. "Any ideas about _that_? I've been burying Reki in work so he won't be suspicious of us."

Shibayama grinned.

* * *

Inside the administration room of The World, Reki sneezed. "Geez, I bet Balmung-san is spreading rumours about me again…" He paused as an email appeared above his head:

_Those who consciously avoid trouble will meet disaster._

Fujio's hand froze on the controller. _How eerie. Is someone watching me? _

Reki glanced around nervously. Deciding that he could work when there were others present in the room, he gated out to run some errands.

A warp hole momentarily appeared where he previously sat.

* * *

"I've never golfed before!" Hotaru cried as her golf ball rolled behind Ouka. "That's alright, me neither!" replied the werewolf, who attempted to kick the little ball toward the hole. Mireille used a charm that caused her hit to become twice as powerful. "I'm gonna win!" she cried as she slammed the head of her club into the ball. The ball soared high into the air and at that precise moment, a warp hole appeared and the ball passed through it and disappeared. "No! What happened?" Mireille sobbed.

* * *

Reki exited a shop and looked around. His next destination was across the river. As he neared the edge, he looked around three times before going up the bridge, making sure no rowdy children were throwing things they shouldn't be.

Safely on the other side, he breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, a warp hole appeared in front of him and out flew the golf ball, smashing his face and pushing him into the river.

Fujio grimaced. _Mental note: Stay away from Mac Anu in general._

Scrambling out of the water, he quickly finished his errands in the Delta-server root town and gated to Carmina Gadelica.

* * *

A/N: This is coming along slowly...


End file.
